Blackout Blinds

Sleep is a vital component of life and eight hours a night is generally considered ideal for adults. Lots of things can interfere with sleep patterns and make getting 8 hours difficult though. One such problem is the amount of light entering the bedroom.

Humans do do not sleep as well or as deeply in lighter environments. This can be particularly problematic for those who work at night and in places which have very short nights in summer and early dawns. If you need to completely minimize the amount of light in your bedroom then you need blackout blinds. Blackout blinds are specifically designed to cut the light entering a room to minimal levels. They are different from and not to be confused with ordinary blinds which are colored black. The latter, whilst doing a good job for many people are ultimately not nearly as effective for those who need near dark at the height of the day.

In fact blackout blinds don't actually have to be black! The name itself comes from world war two when the purpose of the original blackout blinds was to stop light leaking out at night rather than in during the day. The theory was that enemy bombers would not see the expected lights from large cities and would thus be unable to find and bomb them. Now you can buy blackout blinds in pretty much any color or style you might find in an ordinary blind. As well as the effect on the light entering the room, blackout blinds are also quite good at acting as thermal insulators (especially blackout wood blinds), cutting down on your heating and/or air conditioning bills. Putting up blackout blinds is therefore helping to do your bit for the environment. You can also consider blackout roller shades provided they are made from proper blackout material.

Two things to consider when choosing your blinds.

Routed blinds: These have holes in each slat to allow the slats to be strung together. Obviously these holes will let a small amount of light through, so you may want to supplement this kind of blind with some cloth drapes.

Internal blackout blinds: these are potentially the best option if you must have absolute darkness. These blinds are sealed between panes of glass in double or triple glazing. That means that they fit the windows perfectly. Other blinds can let let a little light in if there is a small gap between the blind and the window, but internally fitted blinds fit precisely against the window, meaning no gap and no light. Even better, because they are fitted inside the window the do not get dirty and therefore never need cleaning. They are kid and pet proof too.